Indian Army turns messiah, family of ten flown to Dinanagar for kin's last rites
PTC News Desk: The Indian Army has turned out to be a messiah for the flood-affected families in the region, rescuing scores of people from the brink of death and providing help to many who had lost all hope.
In one such tragic yet heart-warming incident, the Army, in collaboration with stranded villagers and the civil administration of Gurdaspur, helped 10 members of a family to bid final goodbye to one of their own.
"A young man, Balwinder, had died in a road accident in Fazilka. However, his entire family, living in a hamlet (Rajpur Chibb) along the India-Pakistan border, was unable to get his body to the village as the seven villages on the other side of Ravi were completely cut off. The body had been brought from Fazilka to Dinanagar by some relatives. Amrik Singh has remained our key contact in that area for supplying rations and other aid to the villagers. When he cried and narrated the plight of the family, I decided that we must find a way to help them,” said Dinanagar SDM Jaspinder Singh Bhullar.
The incident unfolded in Gurdaspur last week, where the water level in Ravi continues to be on rise, crossing danger mark. A llarge portion of land has already been submerged in the river.
Initially the family of the deceased and Gurdaspur administration approached the Indian Army for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, requesting them for help in airlifting the body of the victim from the Dinanagar hospital to Rajpur Chibb. However the family later realised that no dry wood was available in the village due to floods.
Later the army swung into the action and arranged a chopper for the family who were then flown to Dinanagar to perform the last rites.
- PTC NEWS
